Apple Delays Mobile Payment Revolution

Those of us who believe that mobile electronic payment systems are going to make debit and credit cards as archaic as the typewriter and carbon paper will have to wait until Apple is good and ready for the revolution to begin.

In case you missed it, which is all but impossible, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 this week and absent from the new phone is NFC technology, which some of the largest players in the mobile payment industry are betting on as the core technology for future electronic payments. NFC, which stands for Near Field Communication, allows the consumer to wave his or her phone over a payment kiosk. In other words, no more having to pull out your nettlesome debit or credit card out of your wallet, which for those of us with bulky, disorganized wallets, is a huge timesaver.

While other mobile phones already have NFC technology, as explained in this article in the Guardian, the technology really won’t take off until it gets Apple’s blessing because when Apple incorporates technology into its operating system it keeps it there, which means that developers can develop apps in a stable environment. In addition, Apple has a huge data base of credit cards through iTunes accounts. And can you imagine how quickly mobile payments might take off if all those users wake up one morning with the ability to make mobile payments? Apple’s influence over the future of mobile banking is so huge that ISIS, a joint venture of major phone carriers that is developing a payment system based on NFC technology, delayed the test marketing of its product.